The Lord’s Chosen Servant
1 bBehold cmy dservant, whom I uphold,
emy chosen, fin whom my soul delights;
gI have put my Spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
2 He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
3 a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 He will not grow faint or be discouraged1
till he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his law.
5 Thus says God, the Lord,
hwho created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
6 “I am the Lord; I have called you2 in righteousness;
I will take you by the hand and keep you;
iI will give you as a covenant for the people,
a jlight for the nations,
7 kto open the eyes that are blind,
lto bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
8 I am the Lord; mthat is my name;
nmy glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to carved idols.
9 Behold, the former things have come to pass,
and onew things I now declare;
before they spring forth
I tell you of them.”
Ascribe to the Lord Glory
A Psalm of David.
1 aAscribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,1
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.2
3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory bthunders,
the Lord, over many waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is cpowerful;
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon to dskip like a calf,
and eSirion like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth3
and strips the forests bare,
and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord sits enthroned as fking forever.
11 May the Lord ggive strength to his people!
May the Lord bless4 his people with peace!
Dead to Sin, Alive to God
1 vWhat shall we say then? wAre we to continue in sin that xgrace may abound? 2 By no means! yHow can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been zbaptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were aburied therefore with him by baptism into death, bin order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in cnewness of life.
5 For if we have been dunited with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our eold self1 was fcrucified with him in order that the gbody of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be henslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free2 from sin. 8 Now iif we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being jraised from the dead, will knever die again; ldeath mno longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, nonce for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves odead to sin and palive to God in Christ Jesus.
The Baptism of Jesus
13 rThen Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all srighteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, tthe heavens were opened to him,1 and he saw the uSpirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, v“This is my wbeloved Son,2 xwith whom I am well pleased.”
